I'm wondering if we are seeing a replay of the 80's oil busted starting. When oil was recently at $100/bbl that was the equivalent of $35/bbl in 1980. We are currently at the equivalent of 1986 oil prices of $27/bbl.

I know it's from wiki, but it's interesting that the US started ramping up production after the oil crisis of the 70's only to have OPEC feel threatened so they flooded the market and shut down most oil production in the US. (marginal producers especially)

Even the Federal Reserve Acknowledges the "Quiktrip Effect." Basically, they are the market force and get to set the price on a whim. So they use their power to spike prices with little regard for wholesale prices, then trickle the price back down. When it gets too close to wholesale prices again, they spike the price.

Quote

They tend to shoot up overnight — often by 10 percent or more — then decline slowly, penny by penny, over the following days. The pattern then repeats, even when prices nationally are holding steady. Economists call it an “Edgeworth price cycle,” and it shows up in a few American cities, mainly in the Midwest.

Makes sense, a pattern of price spikes almost always followed by falling prices isn't normal market behavior. Buy your gas on Wednesday and you usually will win the game. To the tune of $60 a year for an average driver if you fill up in a QT market.

Even if the “QuikTrip Effect” is real (QT denies it), I don’t think a price jump a few days before the first big driving holiday weekend of the year proves much. A quick search indicates gas prices jumped all over the country, even in cities without QT. You should always fill up before Wednesday of a summer holiday week.

Even the Federal Reserve Acknowledges the "Quiktrip Effect." Basically, they are the market force and get to set the price on a whim. So they use their power to spike prices with little regard for wholesale prices, then trickle the price back down. When it gets too close to wholesale prices again, they spike the price.

Makes sense, a pattern of price spikes almost always followed by falling prices isn't normal market behavior. Buy your gas on Wednesday and you usually will win the game. To the tune of $60 a year for an average driver if you fill up in a QT market.

This was a trick we finally learned up around Salida and Leadville, Colorado last summer. They spike the prices on the weekends to nail the tourist traffic and the locals know to fill up mid-week.

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